Notes from the legendary screenwriting book by Blake Snyder

Every story needs a "Save the cat" moment, where the hero does something heroic and cool that makes us like him and shows us who he is. This should happen early on.

Example: In Sea of Love, Al Pacino is a cop running a sting for parolees. The sting is disguised as a meet the Yankees event. One criminal shows up late with his son, Al flashes his badge at the gun, letting him get away. He's not going to arrest him in front of his kid. He also quips, "Catch you later". He's cool, he's a good guy, and he's a copy. Bam bam bam. That's what you need.

Every scene should have conflict, and a change in emotion from negative to positive or positive to negative. Imagine two people entering the stage from opposite sides, each trying to get past each other to the other side. The struggle is what lies between.

You want PRIMAL. Things like sex, survival, hunger, protection of loved ones, fear of death.

You want primal relationships: brother, sister, father, daughter.

Log Lines

Log line. This is a one sentence description that says exactly what your story should be about. Write it first, and be beholden to it. It should say exactly who your hero is and be filled with irony. It's what sells your script. It's what it's about, and you need to know that before you can write.

A newly-married couple must spend Christmas day at each of their four divorced parents' homes.

Any log line ending with 'the xyz from hell' is comedic gold.

You should be able to picture the movie, or the promise of the movie from the logline.

High concept is good, even if it's frowned upon.

Killer title is key!

It's about a guy who...

Need an adjective to describe the hero, an adjective to describe the bad guy, and a compelling goal we identify with as human beings

Ask who could stand to have the greatest arc here, the biggest journey.

Handling Cliche

Give us the same thing, only different.

You want to be familiar with the cliches and genre of the film you're writing. Lean into them, and subvert them.

Ten Types of Movie

1. Monster in the House Jaws, Exorcist, Alien, Panic Room
2. Golden Fleece Star Wars, Wizard of Oz, Back to the Future, most heists?
3. Out of the Bottle Liar, Liar; Bruce Almighty; Freaky Friday; Blank Check
4. Dude with a Problem Die Hard, Schindler's List
5. Rites of Passage
6. Buddy Love Dumb and Dumber, Rain Man
7. Whydunnit Because who dunnit isn't interesting
8. The Fool Triumphant Forrest Gump
9. Institutionalized Anything about groups. MASH, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next, Godfather
10. Superhero Dracular, Beautiful Mind, Gladiator, Batman

Monster in the House

House must be confined space.
Must be a sin committed (usually lust or greed)
Run and hide

Golden Fleece

Road movie.
Hero goes on the road searching for something, and finds something else. Usually himself.

Milestones are people and events they encounter on the way. Seems episodic, but it's connected.

Out of the Bottle

"I wish I..."
If it's wish fulfilment, has to be someone so downtrodden that we are rooting for ANYONE to give him a win or happiness. BUT we don't want to see him succeed for too long, so he has to learn that magic isn't everything, so there's a moral in the offering, a lesson at the end.

If it's a comeuppance tale, then the opposite: a guy who needs a swift kick in the butt, but with a redeemable quality. Like Liar, Liar. In this case, the Save the Cat scene at the start is critical. They can triumph at the end.

Dude with a Problem

Ordinary guy in extraordinary circumstances.
More ordinary the guy, the bigger the problem. The badder the bad guy, the greater the heroes. SO make the bad guy as BAD as possible. Our hero needs great odds to overcome!

Primal problems: survive.

Rites of Passage

Tales of pain and torment, usually from an outside force.
Puberty, mid-life crisis, old age, romantic breakup, grieving.

Buddy Love

Me and my best friend. Two people talking for much of the film. Like Finding Nemo
Love stories are buddy love witih the potential for sex.
The all is lost scene should be a fight or separation, but ultimately they have to realize they they don't live as well without the other, and must surrender egos to win.

Usually one of the heroes does all the changing and growth, while the other is static (Martin in Nemo, not Rain Man in Rain Man).

Why Done it

Ultimately asks the audience "are we this evil?"

Fool Triumphant

Village idiot that everyone underestimates.

Screen 20 films in your genre and UNDERSTAND what makes them tick.

Structure

Three acts. 15 beats, with pages. For a 110 page script:
Opening (1)

Theme Stated (5) Say what the film is about, usually in a different context. It's the thematic presence. Be careful what you wish for, you can't walk away from family, etc.

Setup (1-10) Introduce or allude to every character. This is your only chance to catch attention. Establish SIX THINGS THAT NEED FIXING. Fix these later on. Good for callbacks and running gags.

Catalyst (12) Something changes. You get a package, find your wife in bed with someone else, big life-changing moment, often bad news.

Debate (12-25) I know what I need to do, why shouldn't I do it?

Break into two (25)

B story (30) Often a romance. It's a breather. It will eventually help resolve the A line. These characters aren't alluded to in the setup, but they're the mirror versions of them.

Fun and Games (30-55) This is where we get to toy around and show the promise and strength of the original premise. It's what the trailer pulls from. It's just goofy little bits that answer why did I come to see this movie? The heart of the film.

Midpoint (55) Stakes are raised. Either a false victory as enemies close in to take it away, or a stunning defeat. Everything is up or down. This is the mirror beat of All is Lose, a false defeat. False victory is you get everything you think you want BUT need to learn the real lesson later.

Bad Guys Close In (55-75) Everything seems fine, but the bad guys, temporarily defeated, are rearing up for a round two. They're gathering the big guns.

All is Lost (75) Directionally opposite (up/down) of Midpoint. Whiff of death. Real or alluded to.

Dark Night of the Soul (75-85) Hero reaches in and pulls out the last bit of strength they need to overcome.

Break into Three (85) Thanks to the B plot, the heroes find a way to overcome the villains. Think My Cousin Vinny.

Finale (85-110) Wrap it up, apply the lessons, reven in the creation of the new world and destruction of the old

Final Image (110) Should mirror opening image, and demonstrate change

The Board

Make a physical board, split it into four sections: Act One, Act 2 A, Act 2 B, Act 3.

Get notecards and set up one for each scene. At the end, you get EXACTLY 40 notecards. 9 for each section, with 4 you can put wherever you'd like.

Physical notecards and pins you can move around and shuffle.

A sequence like a chase can be combined into one card. It's a single beat.

A fact like "he's an ex-cop" is not a card. We need to show that in a scene in set up.

Each scene — every one — needs conflict and emotional change.

The Rules of Screenplay writing

Save the Cat

Show our hero being likeable from the start. If they're bad guys, make the antagonist even worse. If they're good guys, show them being kind. See Aladdin stealing food, then getting chased (showing off the setting) and giving the food to starving kids instead.

Pope in the Pool

Explain exposition in a way that is interesting or funny. The pope swimming in the vatican pool, people are surprised by the spectacle of the pool, the un-popeliness of the pope.

In Drips, two plumbers really have to pee while the presentation is going on. It's a funny scene.

Something entertaining to look at while the exposition happens almost in the background.

Double Mumbo Jumbo

One piece of magic per movie. Max.

Laying Pipe

Get to the crux of the story quickly — not 40 minutes in.

Get to the point!

Black Vet

(From he's a veteran and a veterinarian)
Pick one concept. Don't have a title mean four things if it can just mean one.

Simple is better.

Watch out for that glacier!

You can't have danger coming in slowly. The threat has to be imminent and approaching fast! Danger must be present, the stakes must be real for the people we care about.

The Covenant of the Arc

Okay this is a really funny title
Every hero in the story MUST change.

Stories are about change, and everyone should have an arc of some kind.

Bad guys are the ones who don't change, they stand firm in their beliefs.

Everybody Arcs

Keep the Press Out

Keep the story contained to the family, don't have news agents on screen.
You keep it a secret, and the magic stays real. If the press knew about E.T., it would have ruined it.

Keep the story personal.

Other laws:

• The hero must be proactive
  • Is their goal clearly stated in the set-up?
    • Make sure it's spoken allowed and restated by action throughout
  • Do they seek out clues or do they just appear?
  • Do other characters tell them what to do?
    • Heroes never ask questions, they look around and tell others what to do — others ASK. Heroes know.
• Don't 'talk the plot'
  • Explain backstory or plot with dialogue
    • You're my sister, you should know
    • This is like when I was a running back for the giants. Before my accident.
  • Characters have their own goals and should serve them. They walk into a scene and say what's on their mind. Not their.
  • Reveal hopes and fears by how they say not what they say.
  • Subtext is great. Subtlety is great.
  • Show don't tell.
    • This is a visual medium. A husband eyeing a woman next to his wife does a lot, and better than a line of 30 of dialogue.
• Make the bad guy badder
  • It makes your good guy look better by comparison
  • Often the villain is the exact opposite of the hero.
• Keep on spinning
  • Stories don't go forward, it spins and turns and intensifies all the way down.
  • Turn, turn, turn.
  • It has to go forward, but not just forward. Faster, and with more complexity towards the climax.
  • It's just a chase if there aren't interesting things happening.
  • Intensity should be rising
  • Imagine a diamond: you want it to spin to show off its sparkle. How does this apply to writing? Unsure! Look at it from other angles.
• Emotional color wheels
  • Lots of emotions! Laughter, crying, arousal, fear, anger, regret, frustration, anxiety from a near-miss, triumph! It's draining, it's cathartic!
  • Use all the emotions!
  • Every screenplay (?) should have a list scene, a frustration scene, a scary scene. If you're missing them, add them to a scene that's just funny or just dramatic and play up this missing emotions!
  • Play it for jealousy or lust instead of dramatic conflict or laughs.
  • It's more rewarding.
  • Can physically color the scenes this way.
• Flat dialogue
  • Cover up the names of the people. You should be able to infer whose talking without seeing the names.
  • Every character must speak differently!
  • Give them verbal ticks for example.
• Take a step back
  • If your character is well-adjusted, they have no growth opportunity.
  • You have to show all the growth and changes. Don't get caught up in the end result.
• Limp and an eyepatch.
  • Minor characters blurring together?
  • In addition to a unique way of speaking, they need a visual clue that makes them easy to remember.
  • Soul patch or goofy hat
• Make it primal!
  • Would a caveman understand it?
  • Survival, hunger, sex, protection of loved ones, fear of death
  • Works for subplots too!
  • Are the characters acting like recognizable human beings?
    • Save a family, protect a house, find a mate, exact revenge, survive
    • Winning the lottery is actually have more food, wives, etc.
    • It must resonate to the caveman.
• You've gotta fix it!

See Also

Aaron Sorkin on Screenwriting